Chile's 33 miners still haunted by their past - BBC News BBC News Chile's 33 miners still haunted by their past By Gideon Long BBC News, Copiapo 22 January 2014 Image caption Alex Vega (right) says he cannot remember the birth of his children Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The miners spent 69 days underground before a drill reached them and they could be rescued Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The 10th miner to be rescued, Alex Vega still has nightmares about being trapped underground Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Omar Reygadas says big mining companies are reluctant to hire him Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Carlos Barrios says he was fine for the first two years after the rockfall, but then suffered a relapse Alex Vega was present at the birth of his three children but cannot remember being there. He forgets things, cannot concentrate and suffers mood swings. He is seeing a psychiatrist and is on medication. More than three years after he and 32 other miners were rescued from the San Jose mine underneath Chile's Atacama Desert in a story that captured the imagination of the world, Alex still has nightmares.

"I'd wake up thinking I was inside a mine," he told the BBC. "I'd wake up shouting. I said to myself 'I have to deal with this' so for a week I went back down a mine owned by my brother-in-law. Each day I'd go a little bit further inside, to overcome the fear. These days I have far fewer nightmares." 'We are all OK' The tale of Chile's 33 miners was one of the most momentous news stories of 2010. Image caption The note is now in a museum in Copiapo In August of that year, the San Jose mine collapsed, trapping the men 700m (2,300ft) below ground. Nothing was heard from them for 17 days and most people assumed they were dead. Image caption The 33 were pulled to safety in this narrow capsule Then, a rescuers' drill broke through to an underground tunnel. When the rescue team pulled the drill out of the ground, there was a note attached to it. "We are all OK in the refuge, the 33," it read.

The miners survived for a further seven weeks on food and water sent from above until they were finally hauled to the surface one by one in scenes watched by millions of TV viewers around the world. At the time, great things were promised for Los 33 but the reality is starkly different. Most are still seeing psychiatrists. Many are out of work or are cobbling together a living from part-time or temporary jobs. One has been sectioned in a psychiatric clinic in the Chilean capital, Santiago, and at least two have had serious problems with drink and drugs. And they have yet to receive any compensation from the mine owners. Fear of the dark I have dreams and start thrashing about and lashing out Carlos Barrios, One of the 33 trapped miners "For the first two years after the accident I was fine," says Carlos Barrios, who was 27 at the time of the mine collapse. "I wasn't in any pain, I was playing football, I had a job and then: boom!" Mr Barrios suffered a relapse. He had to quit his job at one of Chile's biggest copper mines and has been on sick leave for a year. "I saw a psychiatrist but she just gave me pills.

I became addicted and I'm still taking them," he told the BBC in Copiapo, the city closest to the mine. "I have nightmares, a fear of the dark. I have a young daughter, and I can't sleep in the same bed as her and my wife because I have dreams and start thrashing about and lashing out at my own daughter. Omar Reygadas, one of the oldest of the miners, has been without full-time mining work for nearly a year. Image caption Omar Reygadas says it has been difficult to find jobs Now 59, he says the miners' fame has counted against them: "Because of the accident we became well known. We've got contacts with the press, contacts with people in government. "So if we're working for a company and we see that they're not doing things properly, they think we'll start knocking on doors. That's why companies are scared to give us work." No compensation In August 2013, a prosecutor closed an investigation into the mine collapse saying there were no grounds to prosecute the owners. The decision angered both the miners and the government. Laurence Golborne, Chile's mining minister at the time of the accident, described it as "unbelievable".

He pointed out that the mine had no second exit tunnel, as obliged to by law, and that a chimney which could have been used as an escape shaft for the men had no ladder in it. Image caption A modest monument has been erected at the entrance to the mine Image caption Thirty-three flags, 32 from Chile, one for the sole Bolivian miner, stand on the hill where relatives waited for the miners to be rescued Most of the miners are still pursuing a civil law suit against the owners and the state in the hope of winning compensation, but they recognise it could take years. Alex Vega says he has lost "all faith" in the government for failing to honour its promises of help with their welfare and retraining. All 33 were promised a pension, he says, but in the end only the 14 oldest miners were given one. "They promised us dental treatment because we spent so long drinking water from the underground tanks that it rotted our teeth, but that came to nothing," he adds. The government says there is a limit to what it can do. A private association is in charge of the miners' mental health and compensation is a matter for the courts.

Hollywood comes knocking In a few months, a Hollywood film crew will come to Chile to shoot a movie about the men based on their testimony. Image copyright AFP Image caption Some scenes for the film are already being shot in a salt mine in Colombia It will reportedly star Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche and Martin Sheen. The production company has promised the miners a cut of the box office receipts but that is unlikely to bring the men peace of mind. Three years after their ordeal, Chile's 33 miners are not celebrities or millionaires as many had predicted. In many cases, they are still wrestling with the trauma of what happened to them during those extraordinary days back in 2010. You can hear Gideon Long's interviews with some of the miners on BBC Radio 4's PM programme on 22 January at 17:00 GMT Chilean Mine Rescue Fast Facts - CNN.com Here's a look at the 2010 rescue of 33 miners from a collapsed mine in the Atacama region of northern Chile.

Timeline: August 5, 2010 - A collapse of the main ramp into the San Jose mine leaves 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet underground. Emergency officials are unable to communicate with the trapped miners. August 6, 2010 - A statement from Chile's National Emergency Office says 130 people are working to rescue the miners. August 7, 2010 - Rescuers face a setback when another cave-in blocks the path they were using to reach the miners. Chilean President Sebastian Pinera travels to Copiapo, where the mine is located, to meet with officials. August 22, 2010 - The miners send a note up tied to a probe which was lowered by authorities earlier in the day. Written in red ink, it reads, "We are fine in the shelter, the 33 of us." Read More August 23, 2010 - A second probe reaches the miners. Rescuers are now capable of relaying communications and can send food and water to miners. Before this, the miners survive by sharing small amounts of tuna and mackerel that were in the shelter, along with water.

August 24, 2010 - Experts from NASA and Chilean navy submarine experts are called to help address the psychological toll the isolation can take on the miners. August 26, 2010 - Miners send a video message to their families expressing thanks for the efforts under way to free them. August 27, 2010 - Miners are told for the first time of the lengthy process rescuers expect it will take to extract them from the mine. Officials announce that they are working on a "Plan B", which could help speed up the rescue process. August 29, 2010 - Each of the trapped miners is given about 20 seconds to speak directly with family members for the first time since the accident. August 31, 2010 - Plan A drilling starts. September 3, 2010 - The Schramm T-130 drill, otherwise known as Plan B, arrives at the rescue scene. The drill is usually used for boring water holes. September 6, 2010 - Rescue officials temporarily stop the Plan B initial drill due to a damaged drill bit.

September 9, 2010 - Miners record a new video to show their families a glimpse of what their routines are like. The three-minute clip shows them in good spirits. September 14, 2010 - Elizabeth Segovia, wife of trapped miner Ariel Ticona, gives birth to a girl she names Esperanza, Spanish for hope. September 17, 2010 - The Plan B bore hole reaches the 33 miners. However, the hole is only 12 inches wide and will need to be widened on a second pass. September 22, 2010 - The Plan C drill starts drilling. September 25, 2010 - The rescue capsule expected to haul the miners back to the surface arrives at the mine. Named the Phoenix, it's painted red, white and blue - the colors of the Chilean flag. September 28, 2010 - The Plan B drill passes the halfway point to the trapped miners. September 30, 2010 - Rescue crews successfully test the capsule.

One test subject declares it "comfortable." October 1, 2010 - Mining Minister Laurence Golborne announces that officials expect to reach the miners as early as mid October - sooner than previously expected. Crews could reach the miners between October 15 and October 30. Officials earlier predict the date might be as far away as November or Christmas. October 5, 2010 - Rescuers say they are within 160 meters of the trapped miners. October 6, 2010 - Two additional capsules and a winch, a device used for winding and tension adjustments, arrive at the mine site. October 7, 2010 - A source close to rescue operations says the Plan B drill is now less than 100 meters from the target. October 9, 2010 - The Plan B drill breaks through the roof of the mine. October 12, 2010 - During a press conference, Mining Minister Golborne announces that the rescue is expected to begin during "the last quarter" of the day.

October 13, 2010 - The first miner rescued, Florencio Antonio Avalos Silva, 31, reaches the surface at about 12:11 a.m. ET. Shift foreman Luis Alberto Urzua Iribarren, 54, is the 33rd and final miner to be rescued, approximately 22 1/2 hours after the rescue operation begins. July 25, 2011 - Representatives for the rescued miners announce that the official and authorized film rights to their story have been sold to producer Mike Medavoy. August 30, 2011 - Fourteen of the miners are awarded lifetime monthly pensions of 250,000 Chilean pesos (approximately $540), by Cecilia Morel, Chile's first lady. The government chose which miners would receive the lifetime pensions based on health, age and the opinion of the group of survivors. August 1 2013 - Chilean prosecutors announce they have closed the investigation into the mining disaster without filing any charges.

August 4, 2013 - San Esteban Mining Company agrees to sell the now-closed San Jose mine to pay the miners and reimburse the Chilean government for the cost of rescue efforts, in addition to paying the company's other debts. Miners: Trapped in a Chilean mine - Photos - The Big Picture - Boston.com Trapped in a Chilean mine Over a month ago, on August 5, 2010, the roof of the San Jose copper and gold mine collapsed, trapping 33 miners inside, 700 meters (2,300 ft) below ground near Copiapo, Chile. The fate of the miners was not immediately known - it took 17 days before a drill reached their refuge, discovering them alive and well. Rescue work began immediately, but even with several concurrent plans underway, the quickest likely rescue will still take two to three months. Until then, the 33 men will have to endure high temperatures and humidity in isolated conditions. A video link has been established, many relatives have set up camp nearby, and food, air, messages and supplies are delivered by several narrow boreholes.

Fluorescent lights with timers are to be sent down to attempt to keep the men on a normal schedule by imitating day and night as they care for each other and assist in their own rescue. Once it reaches them, the diameter of the rescue borehole will be very narrow. so each miner will have to ensure they have a waistline of no more than 90 cm (35 in) to escape. ( 42 photos total ) Relatives wait outside a collapsed mine where about 33 miners are trapped in Copiapo, Chile, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo) Chilean miners trapped in San Jose mine - Telegraph Chile Chilean miners trapped in San Jose mine A group of 33 miners from the San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile were trapped 2,297 feet underground for 69 days after the mine collapsed on 5 August, 2010. Here's an infographic of the effort to save them.

Telegraph on Facebook BBC News - Chile mine rescue: Key events Accident Relatives of trapped miners wait for news Thirty-three miners were trapped underground when part of the San Jose mine in Chile's Atacama desert collapsed on 5 August 2010. A second collapse on 7 August hampered rescue efforts, blocking access to the lower parts of the mine. The San Jose mine, 800km (500 miles) north of Santiago, is mined for copper and gold. The main path - or rampa - reaches down to 720m (2,362ft) below the surface. The collapses, blocking exit routes, had taken place between 400m (1,312ft) and 500m (1,640ft). Rescue teams drilled a number of exploratory boreholes, sending listening probes down knowing that, despite the collapse of some ventilation shafts, the miners may have survived.

Discovery Miners attached a note to a borehole probe Seventeen days after the accident, rescuers found a note from the miners attached to one of the probes saying "Estamos bien en el refugio los 33" - "All 33 of us are well inside the shelter." The note referred to a refuge shelter, 700m (2,300ft) down, where the miners had been having lunch when the first collapse happened. Emergency supplies and fresh water were sent down the borehole to the miners after they had survived on rations for 17 days. Communications were set up and the miners told the rescue team they had access to about 1km (0.6 miles) of tunnel and had split into three groups to eat and sleep. Since then, rescuers have sent food and medical supplies, specialist clothing, camp beds and other equipment down the borehole to make the miners' lives more comfortable. Drilling begins Three machines have drilled to different depths With access via the mine tunnels blocked, rescuers decided the best way of reaching the men was to drill a shaft and winch them to the surface.

Three types of drilling equipment were used - two raise-bore machines, which drill a pilot hole before widening the shaft. And a third drill, normally used in the oil industry, which drills a wide shaft at the first instance. The pilot hole for the first shaft, Plan A, started on 30 August - aiming for the shelter. Plan B, involving faster machinery, was aiming for a machine workshop a few hundred metres from the refuge and completed its pilot hole on 17 September. Rescuers dug all three holes at the same time to be sure of getting the miners out as fast as possible, even if one of the pieces of equipment broke. Life underground Miners have been shifting debris from the rescue drills Communication with the miners has been key to morale and the rescue operation itself. Messages from relatives and supplies have been passed down the boreholes in special tubes nicknamed "palomas" or "doves". But the miners have also been able to provide rescuers with video updates of conditions in the mine. The 33 men have split into three groups - Grupo Refugio, Grupo Rampa and Grupo 105 - named after the shelter, the ramp and Level 105 sections of the tunnel where they are trapped.

They have established shift patterns - work tasks involve clearing the debris falling from the pilot hole as the shaft is widened and unloading the dozens of palomas sent down each day. Rest periods are used for sleeping, writing letters and games - the miners also need to keep fit and slim enough to fit in the rescue capsule. Life at the surface Tour of the camp above trapped Chile miners Relatives and friends of the 33 miners have gathered at the mine since the accident in an area dubbed Campo Esperanza, or Camp Hope. Families have been living in tents, with daily meals provided by charities and local authorities. They also send messages and creature comforts down to the miners, and await their replies, sent back up in the paloma supply tubes. A school has been set up for the children of the trapped miners living at the camp - following a request from the miners. Breakthrough The BBC's Tim Willcox was at the mine when the breakthrough happened Amid scenes of jubilation above and below ground, the Plan B drill finally broke through to the miners' workshop on 9 October. After a video inspection of the shaft to check the rock's stability, rescuers decided they only needed to encase the first 96m (315 ft).

Sixteen six-metre tubes were welded together to go into the shaft. This will prevent rocks in the looser soil near the top of the shaft being dislodged and jamming the rescue capsule. A winch and pulley for the rescue capsules will then be installed and the shaft tested before the rescue begins, it is hoped, on Wednesday. Rescue Luis Urzua was the last of the miners to be rescued After unmanned test runs and checks on the Phoenix capsule, the rescue operation began shortly after 2315 on Tuesday (0215 GMT on Wednesday 13 October) with Manuel Gonzalez being lowered down the shaft. Mr Gonzalez was supposed to return to the surface and report on the condition of the rescue shaft, before handing over to a paramedic. However, the miner Florencio Avalos instead got into the capsule and was hauled up. The miners wore a "bio-harness" designed for astronauts - which monitors their heart rate, breathing, temperature and oxygen consumption - and sunglasses to protect their eyes from the glare of the desert.

Mr Avalos reached the surface at 0010 on Wednesday (0310 GMT) and was greeted by his family, rescuers, President Pinera and the first lady, Cecilia Morel. The rescue team was soon able to cut the time down between each ascent from an hour to 25 minutes, and by Wednesday afternoon it became clear that the operation would be completed in half the time originally estimated. President Pinera was also waiting at the head of the rescue shaft at 2155 on Wednesday (0055 GMT on Thursday), when the capsule carrying Luis Urzua reached the surface. Before the remaining six rescuers started their return journey to the surface, they held up a banner saying "Mission accomplished." How 33 men survived being buried alive Email a friend JORGE Galleguillos, a veteran miner at the San José Mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert, was working 2,000 feet below the earth’s surface when he saw what he thought was a butterfly. His co-worker, Franklin Lobos, disagreed.

“It was white rock,” he said, referring to the “translucent, milky quartz that glimmers when it catches the light.” It was also a harbinger. Because as they drove not 20 meters past that spot, that one falling rock became “a massive explosion,” and the area around them “filled with dust.” Unbeknown to them, this was but one part of an incredible collapse occurring throughout the mine. The men, along with 31 others, were about to undergo an ordeal the likes of which few suffer, and fewer survive. The next time they saw daylight, they would be global heroes, and their lives would never be same. Chile's President Sebastian Pinera, centre top, cheers as rescued miner Mario Sepulveda Espina, centre, salutes after being rescued from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine Pic: AP/Jorge Saenz.Source:AP The collapse of the San José Mine on August 5, 2010, became international news, as 33 men were trapped underground for 69 days, battling starvation and hopelessness as the world waited anxiously for news of their rescue.

Héctor Tobar, author of the new book “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), was the only journalist given access to the men and their families and returns with a riveting account of a remarkable disaster. The San José Mine was more than 100 years old, and a century of “digging and blasting” had all but worn away its internal structure. The mine was known for “primitive working conditions and perfunctory safety practices,” including escape tunnels that were “useless in an emergency because they lack the ladders necessary for the miners to use them.” On the afternoon of the 5th, the miners heard the explosion, and were enveloped in dust, as the ramps leading to the surface collapsed. “A single block of diorite, as tall as a 45-storey building, has broken off from the rest of the mountain and is falling through the layers of the mine ...

causing a chain reaction as the mountain above it collapses, too.” This piece, the men would later learn, was about 550 feet tall and weighed 770,000 tons — “twice the weight of the Empire State Building.” Rescued Bolivian miner Carlos Mamani with his daughter in La Paz. Pic: AP/Jorge BernalSource:News Corp Australia In the ensuing quake, several men were “knocked off their feet by a blast wave” as “the walls began to shake and stones the size of oranges [began] falling around them.” When the quaking was done, the men found themselves trapped and one miner uttered, “Estamos cagados.” “Loose translation,” writes Tobar, “We’re f — ed.” A quick inspection showed that “all the connections to the surface have been cut: the electricity, the intercom system, the flow of water and compressed air.” The men, not yet knowing the extent or cause of the devastation and believing they’d be rescued in a few hours or days at most, retreated to the Refuge, a classroom-sized, steel-reinforced safe room that holds provisions meant to feed 25 men for two days.

The inventory of the food included, “1 can of salmon, 1 can of peaches, 1 can of peas, 18 cans of tuna, 24 litres of condensed milk (8 of which were spoiled), 93 packages of cookies,” not counting a few that some of the men ate on the sly, “and some expired medicines.” There were also “a mere 10 bottles of water,” although there were thousands of litres keeping the engines of their machinery cool. While dirty, oily and occasionally used for bathing, it was drinkable enough to keep them alive. Food rationing, they soon learned, would be harsh, since, “If each man eats one or two cookies and a spoonful of tuna each day, the provisions might stretch out a week.” Rescued miner Carlos Mamani Solis smiles after he is hauled up from beneath the ground. Pic: AP/Roberto Candia.Source:News Corp Australia A miner named Mario Sepúlveda, one of the leaders throughout the ordeal, would line up “37 plastic cups in rows and spoon one teaspoon of canned fish into each cup, then pour in some water, making a broth.

He [then passed] out two cookies to each man. ‘Enjoy your meal,’ he says. ‘This is delicious stuff. Make it last.’ That single meal, at noon, likely contains fewer than 300 calories and is meant to hold them all until the next noon.” They’ll soon broaden the menu to include soup they’ll cook, using the industrial water, “in a truck’s air filter from a single can of tuna, with ... no salt and only a few peas and some motor oil for flavouring.” In time, the rumbling of their collective stomachs will grow so loud that, in the echo of the mine, some will mistake it for the sound of the mountain collapsing. Most of the men slept in the Refuge, where, after several days, “the fetid scent begins to gather and cook, transforming the air into a stew of body odour,” leading one miner to later say, “I’ve smelled corpses before, and after a while, it smelled worse than that.” As days pass, a society develops. The men hold daily prayer meetings.

They play checkers using a board made from cardboard, and dominoes one miner created by “pulling apart and cutting up the white plastic frame of the reflective traffic-hazard triangle in his truck.” They occasionally think they hear drilling, but no rescue appears. Relatives camped outside the mine, including the wife and girlfriend on one miner.Source:AP Sometimes, the humour turns gallows, as when one miner tells the sole Bolivian in the group, “You better hope they come for us. Because if they don’t, since you’re Bolivian, you’ll be the first one we’re going to eat.” Some men (including, reportedly, the joke’s subject) appreciated the levity. Others could not, realising that if one of them died, they might have to consider such action. Above ground, meanwhile, several potential rescuers descended 4.5 kilometres into the mine, only to be stopped by the monolith. Seeing it, one veteran miner wept, knowing that his colleagues were doomed. Officials also discovered that the building-sized slab was still shifting, making “a new collapse possible at any moment.” Mining and drilling experts sought to figure out where they could drill without collapsing the already weakened mountain.

In time, drilling experts from around the world would join the effort. Just outside the mine entrance, the miners’ families set up a camp — calling it Camp Esperanza, or “Hope” — where they could stay while awaiting word of their loved ones and keeping pressure on government officials. For some of the miners, this led to complications. Yonni Barrios, a “paunchy, soft-spoken Romeo,” lived with his girlfriend, except when they were fighting. Then, he stayed with his wife, who lived less than a block away. Both women planted their flags at the camp, and their battle for Barrios’ heart went public. (The girlfriend won.) The story quickly went global, and the Chilean media put the miners’ chances for survival at “less than 2%.” Miner Edison Pena (R) is checked by Chilean Navy Sergeant Roberto Rios as he waits his turn to be lifted to the surface.Source:News Corp Australia After two weeks underground, many of the miners were having trouble walking on their legs, and their ribs began sticking through their skin. The sound of daily drilling was by now unmistakable, but the miners had no idea how long rescue would take.

They would eventually hear over a dozen drills fail to find their target, disappointments that came to feel like “a second death.” By now, there was just enough food to give each man one cookie every two days. In time, they stretched that out to three days to make the food last longer. At one point, “a single slice of peach, about the size of a thumb” was found, and meticulously divided into 33 slivers “about the size of a fingernail.” Another time, one of the men experienced temporary blindness, “the first signs of a common side effect of hunger, caused by vitamin-A deficiency.” On day 17, a drill that had been growing louder suddenly stopped, the sound replaced by “a whistle of escaping air” — one of the drills had broken through. The miners ran to see and began banging on it furiously with wrenches “like little kids hitting a piñata.” The men, “laughing and cheering,” celebrated by “passing around a plastic bottle filled with dirty water as if it were champagne.” They tied notes to the drill bit, informing those on the surface that all 33 of them were still alive.

After 17 days of hell, the men finally had hope. But the end of their ordeal was still far away. Rescued miner Jose Henriquez in the crowd. Pic: AP/Jorge Saenz.Source:AP As food, clean water, a phone line and other supplies were passed down the 4.5 inch hole, the men’s joy was dashed when they learned that getting them to the surface, including finding a way to reach them and bring them up that didn’t risk collapsing the already fragile mine, could take as long as four months. “If they are indeed stuck until Christmas,” writes Tobar, “they will have been trapped underground twice as long as any human being in history.” While the men managed to support each other during their times of dire starvation, there was a greater danger in strong, healthy men dealing with this collective frustration in the pits of hell, and their confrontations grew increasingly heated.

With their fortunes in the hands of the mystery people above, one miner wrote, “Now I know how an animal in captivity feels, always depending on a human hand to feed it.” Above ground, meanwhile, they were becoming international celebrities, as media around the world interviewed their families, and a Chilean millionaire began an effort to raise funds ensuring that all the men were millionaires by the time they reached the surface. (While they all received gifts from many donors, their fortunes never became that grand.) There was also trouble brewing regarding press coverage of individual miners, including the braggings of Sepúlveda, who mentioned in a letter to his family that he was “the absolute leader,” causing bitterness among the men. Sepúlveda also raised suspicions by joking about eating each other, jokes that, as the men’s strength increased, took on a violent edge, leading some to fear for their safety.

Rescued miners Juan Carlos Aguilar (L) and Carlos Mamani embrace as they arrive for a mass service at the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile in 2010.Source:AP While the surreal nature of knowing they were rich and famous while still trapped underground messed with their heads, they did keep it together in one crucial area — making a pact that the rights to their tale would be owned by all of them, in 33 equal parts. This pact would lead to some disagreements down the road, but ultimately it would hold. The rescue couldn’t take place through the hole already drilled, but required a new hole 28 inches in diameter. The problems faced in drilling the first hole were now multiplied, since this hole needed to be wide enough for the men to fit through. In time, many nations would send help, including the US, with a special 26,000-pound drill coming from a company in Pennsylvania, and a top American driller participating in the final rescue effort. It was agreed that three separate drilling efforts will proceed simultaneously, in an effort to rescue the men as quickly as possible. Luis Urzua drinks champagne after being welcomed home by neighbours.

Pic: AP/Roberto Candia.Source:AP On September. 17, one of the drills broke through to the men via a 17-inch hole, and that was widened over the next several weeks to the required 28 inches. From there, a few days were needed to remove the drill bit from the hole, and then a rescuer was sent down in a tube, dubbed the Fenix, built specially for this purpose. The first man, Florencio Avalos, began his ascent a little before midnight on October 12. He reached the top around 30 minutes later, met by his family, news cameras from around the world, and the president and first lady of Chile. Around 24 hours later, Luis Urzua became the last man to hit the surface. As he did, the 69-day nightmare of the San José Mine officially reached its end. Many of the miners struggled to readjust, feeling withdrawn and suffering flashbacks and nightmares. After darkness fell, Barrios, for one, would sometimes wake “in the middle of the night and put on his old helmet,” just sitting there with his helmet lamp on, suddenly screaming and punching the couch cushions.

For several, such as Alex Vega, the cure was surprising. After two years of “emotional suffering” including “nightmares about being buried alive,” Vega realised he needed to “confront this fear” head on — which for him meant returning to the mines. Every day for a week, he drove 300 hundred meters deep, “wandering about the stone passageways, and then back up and out of those dank caverns and into the sunshine.” His nightmares never returned. First of 33 miners rescued in Chile - CNN.com First of 33 miners rescued in Chile By the CNN Wire Staff First miner rescued NEW: Florencio Avalos is the first miner extracted One by one, the 33 miners will be hoisted up in a rescue cage They will have oxygen and communications equipment for the harrowing ride Share this story with CNN. Go to iReport and post your viewing experience on video. Copiapo, Chile (CNN) -- His return heralded by a siren's blare and the cries of a happy nation, the first of 33 Chilean miners emerged into a cool desert night early Wednesday after being trapped underground for 69 harrowing days.

Florencio Avalos made the bumpy 20-minute ride to the surface as eager family members and anxious strangers watched from around the world the developments at the San Jose mine. He emerged wearing green coveralls, blinking in the bright lights and to the cheers and applause of the rescue team. Avalos, beamed as he walked on the earth's surface for the first time in more than two months. Wearing sunglasses he hugged his family and then Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. He appeared strong, walking without help and embracing many of the rescue workers who witnessed his arrival. He was then put on a gurney and wheeled into a separate room where doctors will examine him. The 31-year-old miner became a cameraman during the isolation, filming videos of the miners to be sent up to rescuers and relatives at the surface. His brother, Renan Silva, is also trapped in the mine. The round trip took just under an hour -- starting at 11:20 p.m. (10:20 p.m. ET) and concluding with Avalos' triumphant appearance at 12:11 p.m.

(11:11 p.m.) A joyous celebration burst out in the capital, Santiago, as hundreds watched on a big screen TV set up in a square -- there were hugs and tears. "I'm very anxious, I'm very happy," Avalos' mother, Maria Silva, told CNN Chile ahead of the rescue. Gallery: Breakthrough at Chile mine Video: Second miner surfaces amid cheers Video: Rescued miner very thankful Video: Chilean president gives thanks RELATED TOPICS Sebastian Pinera In the hours before the highly anticipated rescue, the sounds of the site were those of a construction site as last-minute preparations were made. Drilling, beeping, rumbling and hammering filled the air at the mine site. Chile is a country that reacts well to adversity, Pinera said, though he added that the miners will not be the same once they come out of the mine, and Chile, too, is changed. With Avalos' arrival to the surface, 32 miners remain in the gold and copper mine where they have been trapped since the start of August. One by one, they too will put on green coveralls made of moisture-resisting material and personalized with names like Raul Bustos. Juan Illanes. Alex Vega.

The oldest is 63. The youngest, only 18. The miners will also have on fresh underwear and socks when they climb into a claustrophobic capsule only a little wider than the span of their shoulders. They will be instructed on the communications equipment and the oxygen supply inside the rescue tube. And they will put on special goggles to protect their eyes -- which have become accustomed to the vampiric darkness of the caved-in mine -- from the lights up above. Then the order to hoist will ring out and each man will begin a slow, bumpy, upward journey through half a mile of rock. Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich told families not to panic when they heard the siren. In this case, it was not being used for something bad, he said, only to herald the arrival of a moment as joyous as a baby's entrance into he world. The miners have been placed on liquid diets in case they vomit on the way to the surface and they have been exercising for an hour a day. Yonni Barrios, is a paramedic and has been weighing his fellow miners daily, taking blood tests and doing daily urine analyses. The others call him "Dr.

House" after the television show, which is popular in Chile. The rescue is likely to go from night into day. Some of the men will feel the intense chill of a desert night; others may come out to a searing sun burning high in a cloudless sky. The rescue capsule will spin as it rises. It will be harrowing. And dark. Like a scary amusement park ride. Except the thrill for these 33 men will lie at the end of the ride, when each will see the families they probably feared they would never see again. "As he comes out he will be reborn," Nelly Bugueno said of her son Victor Zamora, 33, who helped handle the cylinders -- called carrier pigeons -- that brought food and other supplies to the trapped miners. Her son is also a poet. Nelly Bugueno has been camping out with the other families above the caved-in mine in this spartan area void of hotels, gas stations or any other amenities. They named the place Camp Esperanza (Hope). Tuesday, that hope was apparent as the families sang songs and could not contain the joy of long-awaited reunions.

Thirty-three flags hung from a red school house -- 32 Chilean and a single Bolivian -- representing the nationalities of the men buried underneath. Bolivian President Evo Morales is expected at the mine site Wednesday to show his support. "God is in all places, At the same time your family loves you," read a sign for Mario Gomez, the oldest of the miners. Gomez began mining at the tender age of 12. He became a spiritual leader for the trapped men and requested a crucifix and statuettes of saints so the men could construct a shrine inside the mine. But amid hope also lurked fear. What if something went wrong? Claudio Lobos craved reassurance. His brother Franklin Lobos, 53, once played soccer in a Chilean professional league and served as an electrician in the mine. The mine collapsed as he and Jorge Galleguillos drove a truck deep down inside the shafts. They slowed down to look at a small white butterfly that had somehow gotten in the mine, and just ahead of them the rocks began caving in. It saved their lives, they said. If only the journey back was guaranteed to be as lucky. The rescue cage looked small to Claudio.

Would his brother fit in there? Was it safe? he asked journalists. He was told the Chilean government has used every resource to save his brother. What more could journalists say? The first to come out will be five miners who have been deemed fit and who possess the most technical know-how so that they can advise the rescue teams. The next five will be the physically weakest, a term perhaps not appropriate for anyone who has survived more than two months in the bowels of the earth. But one of the miners has diabetes; another has black lung. The last to come out will be Luis Alberto Iribarren, 54. Like the captain of a sinking ship, the shift supervisor volunteered to stay behind until all his men were safe. As the men are extracted, they will undergo about two hours of health checks at a field hospital set up at the mine. They will then be flown by helicopter to a hospital in the town of Copiapo -- approximately a 15-minute flight. Miners who are healthy enough will be allowed to visit briefly with family members in a reunion area before being taken to the hospital. Some have exhibited anxiety, according to Manalich, the health minister. They may experience psychological problems.

For the 33 men, the only contact with the outside world since the beginning of August was through a small bore hole through which they were sent food, water and other supplies. A letter sent by one of them said they would take a vow of silence, to never to fully reveal the details of their underground misery. Edison Pena, 34, sent back a request for Elvis Presley music and led the group in sing-alongs. Victor Segovia, 48, kept a journal throughout the ordeal and sent his updates to help keep the rescuers on the surface informed about the miners' well-being. He's an acoustics expert. Jimmy Sanchez, 18, the youngest miner who worked as an environmental assistant, sent a letter to his mother. He just wanted to taste her cooking again. Ariel Ticona, 29, watched his wife give birth to a baby girl via a video link that was lowered into the mine. Of his three children, this was the first birth he was able to witness. They called their new daughter Esperanza. High above the miners, the buzz of electrical generators brought in by hordes of media began to drown out other sounds Tuesday.

About 1,500 journalists from 39 nations gathered to tell a story of survival and family members held their breath. And as Avalos surfaced Wednesday, safe and sound, a nation exhaled. CNN's Moni Basu, Karl Penhaul, Patrick Oppmann, Gary Tuchman and Luis Carlos Velez contributed to this report. Share this on: The 33 Trailer Starring Antonio Banderas ‘The 33’ Trailer: Antonio Banderas Leads the Chilean Miner Movie Posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2015 by Angie Han Five years ago, a cave-in at the San José Mine in Copiapó, Chile left 33 miners trapped. The entire world tuned in to watch the tragedy unfold over the next 69 days, as the men awaited rescue 2,300 feet underground. Now, we’re about to get the chance to see it happen all over again in a much accelerated fashion, as the first The 33 trailer hits the web.

Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Juan Pablo Raba play miners Mario Sepúlveda, Luis Urzua, and Darío Segovia; Rodrigo Santoro is Chilean Minister of Mining Laurence Golborne; Gabriel Byrne is engineer Andre Sougarret, who leads the rescue mission; and Juliette Binoche is María Segovia, sister of Darío. Patricia Riggen directs. Take a look at the first The 33 trailer after the jump. Here’s the first The 33 trailer from 20th Century Fox Chile. Despite the fact that it’s a trailer intended for Chilean audiences, for a movie based on real events that happened in Chile, to (mostly) Chilean people, everyone here speaks to each other in accented English. It doesn’t make any sense, but it does make this trailer easier for us Americans to comprehend. Despite the fact that we already know all 33 of these men will miraculously make it to safety (uh, spoiler alert), there’s plenty of drama and tension here.

And it’s less claustrophobic than you might expect, because rather than focus exclusively on the miners’ ordeal, the film also covers the goings-on aboveground. Various officials concoct plans to deal with the incident, rescue workers of all stripes carry out said plans, and family members and friends of the miners lean on each other during this trying period. The 33 opens August 6 in Chile — five years almost to the day from the initial cave-in. No U.S. release date has been set, but we can probably expect it out sometime this year. Cool Posts From Around the Web:

Question: What is the name of the Chilean mine in Copiapo, Chile, where 33 miners were trapped in 2010?
Answer: San Jose